The Fated Sunset by Nishanth R. explores themes of guilt, greed, regret and revenge against the historical backdrop of 1918 through 1934.

The First World War, Prohibition and the extreme poverty of the 1930s influences the lives of several characters. Yet, fateful decisions are the significant factors chart the lives of these characters and causes them to become irretrievably linked. In the end, this sweeping tale offers no winners.

Lester Rupert, a World War I veteran from a troubled past, finds himself embroiled with accomplices determined to become rich by participating in a daring robbery. As a result of their criminal activity, countless innocent people are killed. Later one accomplice, Silva Jorgan, betrays Lester and the others because he wants to keep the robbery money solely for himself.

Over the next decade, Lester leads a nomadic lifestyle fraught with poverty and uncertainty as he travels throughout Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas. Despite his poor existence, the one constant for Lester is that he is fed by an insatiable desire for revenge against Silva. In addition, Lester wrestles with his own guilt as a willing participant in the robbery. Meanwhile, Silva uses the spoils from the robbery to reinvent himself as a powerful pillar of the community. But respectability is a public persona for the cold hearted man for unlike Lester, Silva is not burdened with guilt over the lives that he took.

Much of the plot is devoted to the deadly game of cat and mouse between Lester and Silva. What I found interesting about this tale is that there is no protagonist to root for. Silva maintains the upper hand in most of his confrontations with Lester. Further, each time when Lester attempts to abandon revenge for normalcy, fate pulls him back towards an evil agenda.

Complicating matters as well for Lester is that he finds himself a wanted man with bounty hunters in pursuit. One of these hunters, a determined and resourceful young woman dubbed “The Tracker”, adds to the heart pounding narrative. Nishanth R. is masterful in characterization, description, dialogue and plotting. In addition, the book benefits from appropriate pacing and well executed suspense hooks that will leave readers fully invested.

The Fated Sunset receives my highest recommendation for quality writing, thoughtful research, imaginative excellence, and stellar characterizations and plotting.